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Manny: It Wasn't Steroids, It Was Cocaine

LOS ANGELES (CAP) - Baseball fans in Los Angeles and around the country breathed a collective sigh of relief today as Dodgers outfielder Manny Ramirez broke his silence about his 50-game suspension and came clean about his alleged use of steroids. Ramirez told CAP News he was not using steroids; he was using cocaine.
"Like I say, you never know what's gonna happen in baseball," Ramirez said. "You know, everyone's out there doing the 'roids - Manny likes to mix it up a little bit when Manny's just being Manny. You know."
Initial reports were that Ramirez had been suspended for hCG, a female fertility drug often taken by steroid users to keep hormones in check. However, those reports were never actually substantiated by Major League Baseball officials, and sources close to Bud Selig say the commissioner plans to confirm the cocaine use at a press conference later today.
"Make no bones about it, this is still a violation of the league's drug policy," Selig said in a phone interview with CAP News. "Section 4.6 of the player's code clearly stipulates that those with five or more years of service to the league may snort at most three lines per week. Manny was well over that limit."
Baseball pundits who were quick to write off Ramirez' accomplishments and any future Hall Of Fame consideration because of the alleged steroid use are quickly putting the quirky outfielder back in his place among baseball immortals. ESPN commentator Peter Gammons says the black cloud has been lifted from America's pastime.
"Babe Ruth was a womanizer, Ty Cobb a mean SOB, Mickey Mantle a drunk," said Gammons. "Yet we looked past these foibles to see them as the great ballplayers they were - and I'm sure history will do the same for Manny.
"What's 50 games in the grand scheme of things? Ted Williams missed three years to fight World War II," Gammons added. "Alex Rodriguez, he's not; Dwight Gooden, he is."
For their part, Los Angeles Dodgers management is ecstatic over the turn of events, having spent the better part of the past week trying to put a positive spin on a series of team promotions that focused on #99. A Ramirez bobblehead night scheduled for later this summer, for example, will still take place, but will also feature little baggies of powdered sugar for the kids.
"Oh, thank the good Lord," said Dodgers owner Frank McCourt. "Steroids is impossible, but this I can market around. I mean, we still have our old Steve Howe posters with He may do blow, but he doesn't blow saves on them.
"We can make this work, no question," added McCourt.
Ramirez is expected to spend the better part of his suspension working out and staying in shape for the rest of the season. However, it's unlikely that's what he'll really do.
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